The body of a 7-year-old girl, murdered after being raped, was found in Simbli village, Hoshiarpur, on Wednesday. The half-covered body was lying near a heap of paddy husk.

The body of a 7-year-old girl, murdered after being raped, was found in Simbli village, Hoshiarpur, on Wednesday. The half-covered body was lying near a heap of paddy husk.

The victim's grandfather, a migrant from Poornia district of Bihar, told the police that he had brought her granddaughter (daughter's daughter) and his 26-year-old grandson (son of another daughter) Sanjay Rishi to the village a few days ago.

He said that the two went missing on Tuesday evening. "On Wednesday, I was informed that a child's body was lying in the fields. It was my granddaughter's," he said.

"The post-mortem report is yet to arrive, but since there seems to be no other motive for the murder of the child, we have registered a rape case as well," he added. He said that a manhunt had been launched and the Bihar police had also been alerted.

The Mehtiana police have registered a case against Sanjay Rishi under Sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of IPC. The accused is at large.